


Ghosts in the Closet

by SilkenTiger091



Category: Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Erin cousland is a ghost, F/F, More tags will be added as this updates, Multi, Watch as I bend dragon age lore to fit my au, and in the closet, i would die for leliana, leliana is my favorite npc of all time and i love her, lesbian main characters are fucking rad, please don't spoil anything in comments I haven't finished the game yet, urban fantasy au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-09
Updated: 2017-10-08
Packaged: 2019-01-11 00:43:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12311259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilkenTiger091/pseuds/SilkenTiger091
Summary: Erin Cousland is a restless soul, unable to find peace after she and her family were murdered by Rendon Howe. Hundreds of years later, she is recruited by the warden Duncan to help his cause.Perhaps there is still time to set things right.





	Ghosts in the Closet

**Author's Note:**

> THREE CHEERS FOR SELF INDULGENT AUS INSTEAD OF HOMEWORK

“And in this room, you can see one of the oldest artifacts in this castle, the Cousland family sword. Now, this sword belonged to the Couslands, who owned this castle for generations before they all died of the plague. Unfortunately, this is one of the only artifacts left from that time, as most records of the Cousland family were found destroyed by the time Rendon Howe reclaimed the castle.”

At this, for the first time on the entire tour, Duncan perked up and began to listen to their tour guide. This was the first time she had mentioned the Cousland family. She continued to talk about how Rendon Howe had heroically broken into the castle after the Couslands had isolated themselves when they were struck with the plague. 

“Was everyone inside dead?” Duncan figured it was worth asking, even though he already suspected the answer.

“Sadly, yes. The records we do have recount the experiences of the Howe family as they went through the castle, and we have burial information of almost everyone in the castle. The Howe family took meticulous records. The only bodies never found were Eleanor Cousland and her daughter, Erin Cousland. Their son, Fergus Cousland, left for battle before the plague struck. We have been unable to find any records of what happened to him after he left.”

Duncan hummed an acknowledgement, currently distracted by Alistair’s quiet return to the rest of the tour group. He had his hoodie pulled up to hide his eyes as he dispersed the last of the magic. Duncan caught the last flashes of white as Alistair pulled off his hood and pretended to be enthralled with whatever the tour guide was saying. 

“So?” He whispered. 

“Some strong spiritual power, that’s for sure. Not sure if it’s just because of all the death or if there’s a spirit here.” Alistair shuddered. “Either way, this place gives me the creeps.”

“What do you think of that?” Duncan nodded towards the sword that was on display. Alistair approached the glass case, and he followed. Alistair leaned over the case for a long time, even after the tour guide and the rest of the group moved on to another section of the armory. He scratched the blonde stubble on his chin before standing up. 

“It’s impressive, for sure. This blade has a lot of history. It’s been used by a lot of powerful people, and it’s killed a lot of things supernatural and human. Oh! Look, hey, it’s even enchanted!” Alistair’s raised voice drew a few strange looks from the other stragglers near the back of the tour group. Alistair blushed and continued in a quieter voice. “Very, very, minor enchantments- basic ones, really, but these are really well done! Looks like whoever had this sword commissioned got a professional to put on some preservation and sharpness runes. Nothing that makes it too much more powerful than a normal sword, but there’s a reason it’s stayed in such good condition for so long.”  
Duncan looked more closely at the sword now. Alistair was right. The closer he looked, the more he could see faint silver runes lacing the hilt and blade of the sword. He was a warden, and it still was hard for him to see the runes on the sword. 

“You’re right. So we at least know that the Couslands dabbled in the occult. I wonder if the Howes did as well.”

“What is it exactly that we’re looking for here? You said you’d tell me, but you never did. And I doubt we came here just to look at a pretty sword.”

“I wanted to investigate rumors of a powerful spirit that apparently haunts this castle around this time of the year.” Duncan shrugged. “Well, actually, I wanted a vacation. But that doesn’t sound as good on official Warden documents.”

“You’re here because you want a vacation?” Alistair rolled his eyes, but he was smiling. “I should have known.”

“I did actually find a few reports of hauntings at this castle. But it’d have to be a pretty powerful ghost to do some of the things described.”  
“I haven’t sensed any spirits. For the amount of people that died in this place, there’s not much more here than a generally dreadful feeling.” 

“Oh, I’ve heard those things about these halls.” Duncan and Alistair spun around from the case to come face to face with an old janitor. She looked at them, a slight twinkle in her eyes. “But I’ve seen this ghost before, on occasion. You’re right, she’s usually here in November. If you’re lucky, you can see her wandering the top rooms, where the royals used to have their chambers.”

Duncan and Alistair exchanged a look.

 

It wasn’t difficult to sneak past the two security guards that guarded the entrance to the upper chambers with a little bit of useful stealth magic from Duncan. Once they were inside, Alistair cast a simple ward around them. 

“That should keep us off the security cameras for a while, if we hurry.”

Duncan nodded. The upper chambers wasn’t a particularly large area. He was only really interested in checking the rooms out and then leaving. He pushed open a door on the left. It was a large room, with a stone basin in one corner and an old fashioned chest shoved in the other. A large antique bed was in the middle of the room, with some sort of restoration tag on it. Boxes were stacked alongside one wall. Then he saw her. 

She was wearing full armor, which was the first thing Duncan noticed about her. The second thing he noticed was the large amount of blood spattered along the front and side of her torso. Occasionally, the blood would drip down her side, but it never spattered on the floor. She was leaning up against the window, arms crossed as she looked at Duncan and Alistair. He noticed the strange tattoos she had on her face. The left side of her face was covered in intricate lines below her eye and above her eyebrow, and the right side of her face had a small design on her cheek. Easily the most striking thing about her was her eyes. The were a cold blue, nearly a grey, but they flashed with hints of white.

“Seems we stumbled upon our ghost.” Alistair murmured from beside him. Duncan ignored him, placing a hand on the dagger he kept hidden on his back. She looked back at them cooly. 

“Spirit, state your name.” He said in a stern voice. She looked at him peculiarly for such a long time he didn’t think she was going to answer. 

“I am Erin Cousland.” She said finally. Duncan couldn’t help his small intake of breath, and he glanced at Alistair in surprise. “Surprised?”

“You are an old spirit. Have you been trapped in Howe Castle for all this time?” He asked.

“This is Highever castle. It has never belonged to that bastard Howe.” Erin’s eyes flashed with anger. Duncan bowed his head slightly.

“I meant no offense. That is simply what we call this place now.”

“I know, I know. I’m sorry, I should not have gotten angry with you. Howe took this place from my family. It is why I have remained here for so long.”

“What do you mean, took it?” Alistair interrupted. “I thought the Howes were a friend to the Couslands?”  
“They were, once. Howe killed my family and took the castle for himself.” Erin pointed out of the window towards the forest. “I was murdered trying to escape.”

“Oh. I’m sorry about that.”  
“It’s alright. It’s not your fault.”

“If you don’t mind me saying, you sound awfully modern for being dead for such a long time.” Duncan said. 

“I’m not tethered here. I’ve been wandering the world for ages, trying to figure out something to do.”  
“You can’t move on?”

Erin shook her head. “No. Howe died a peaceful death. My remains and my parent’s corpses were lost ages ago. I never even managed to learn what happened to my older brother.” She sighed, and for the first time Duncan noticed that she didn’t appear to be much older than Alistair. 

“Is it true you can interact with the material world?” He asked her. She nodded.

“I can. It’s gotten easier the longer I’ve been around. I was hoping to take my family sword with me when I left today, actually.” 

Duncan frowned. “I can’t let you steal something from the museum.”

“It’s not stealing! My family has passed that sword down from generation to generation. I’m not going to let it sit here as some prize of Howe’s any longer.”

Duncan sunk deep into thought. He looked at Erin, sizing her up. It was clear to him that she was incredibly powerful as far as spirits went. She could interact with the material plane often enough not only to be noticed by normal people, but to even interact with objects for an extended amount of time. He was willing to bet she had training as a warrior. Even if she was a girl in a time when women were not taught such things, he believed that the Couslands would have at least taught her something if they dabbled in the occult.

“I will let you take the sword, and you will not face any punishments for it. In exchange, I’d like you to come with me.”

“You’re going to make her a Grey Warden?” Alistair asked. He nodded.

“Grey Warden?” Erin seemed interested.

“Yes. We fight demons and evil spirits, among other abominations. We keep order and make sure nothing harms the rest of the world.” He looked at her keenly. “Are you interested?”

Erin seemed to consider it. Finally, she shrugged. Before his eyes, her outfit melted into something more modern, a tee shirt with a bloodstained leather jacket thrown over it and jeans. “I’ll come with you. I’ve been waiting for something to do.”

Duncan grinned. “Then let’s get your sword, Warden.”

Alistair rolled his eyes. “Great, another lunatic.” He muttered.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!! If you enjoyed, please like and comment! Remember, comments > kudos although both are appreciated!!


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